good stuff stories from r.t. palestine moves up in the international arena becoming a un recognized the preserve a state which could allow to pursue israel now over claims of war crimes. egypt's power struggle spirals rival forces gather strength in a showdown over the draft constitution and the president's self-imposed supreme authority. i watch this space the more wiki leaks on the way a paralegal in the sun is promising more ground shaking revelations next year to talk to us about. hello i'm kevin owen with

a major new stories the past week than of course the palestinians moved a step closer to being fully recognized as independent the un voted to upgrade the administration's diplomatic status to a nonmember observer state the middle east correspondent for us policy reports now on how the move may signal a change in the way the world sees israeli actions. it might have been a foregone conclusion but that didn't dampen the jubilation on the streets of palestine. overwhelming support for upgraded palestinian state has to a nonmember observer state in the un one hundred thirty eight voting in favor nine against forty one abstentions it's an important political and legal victory to hold israel accountable in a practical way on its violations the international law and its violations to the rights of the palestinian people especially on the expansion of illegal settlements

palestinians can now apply to join the international criminal court and other global organizations giving them better bargaining chips in dealing with israel. but it came at a price within hours tel aviv announced it was building three thousand more homes in the west bank a sure sign that the situation on the ground won't change overnight does it's not a step forward it's a step aside or even you know a step. back that's really a pity the international community gives hand to this violation the u.s. was also quick to cast a cloud over the palestinian party mood the unfortunate and counterproductive resolution at the united nations general assembly that just passed today's grand pronouncements will soon see. and the palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed but washington's unflinching support for tel aviv has separated from some of its longtime allies in the un more and more

countries are turning their back on decades of negotiations that have led nowhere what has changed has been the continual failure of the us controlled so-called peace process to lead to any kind of end to occupation and what i think was the catalyst here is that political pressure on other matters and on the palestinian authority from their own population from their own people who were saying you know what we've had twenty one years of failed diplomacy we're not looking for twenty two we want something different and that something means a real shift in policy first and foremost the consensus on the international stage is that israel needs to stop building settlements deemed illegal by the un certainly be international community are you know is a horse. a provocation which heroes of course i go to so

god. it was a little more than a year ago that palestinian president mahmoud abbas came to the un in a bid for statehood since then tel aviv and washington's approach to the middle east conflict has gained them an ever shrinking minority of supporters the irony is that the bid was passed in the watches of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his rightwing foreign minister avigdor lieberman it was last year that lieberman boasted in the united nations that the moral majority of western states was with israel it now turns out he was wrong and whether israel wants it or not it's increasingly clear that something needs to give policy r.t. tel aviv perspective on this now and talk to former intelligence officer mary i know that the interdisciplinary center of private college and israel there evening to you i mean to me it seems blindingly obvious on what you think what point is israel trying to make with its decision to continue building settlements immediately after the u.n.

vote. well it's kind of funny if you think of it from the israeli point of view should not have been a joyous day on thursday november twenty ninth such a momentous day it's the day that it was decided at the same united nations sixty five years ago to stablish two states and israel was established sixty four years ago and i want to remind us all that at that time the absolute rejection was from the arab side and here we are sixty five years later and rather that on thursday being about pro palestinian about a palestinian state about something of seventy percent of israeli support it was all about anti israel when i was listening before also to the report about coming out of tel aviv to a certain degree i feel as if more of the bad guys in that sense of what should be a joyous day are no be all about at the top but we want to be both sides i know but what about the timing you know the timing of the announcement of those settlements it wasn't great timing was it therefore not good. well there is also

a question in israel of our own domestic crunch when i was interviewed here over a week ago i was accused of the fact that israel was waging an operation because of elections something i really seriously disagree with i have to say that this time i do think that the timing of the israeli government decision has everything to do with our domestic elections and not necessarily with what's going on in the world in israel domestically the domestic front for been in a time now for a victor lieberman for those who have stood so clearly both against the idea of palestine being declared as a state not as a state in general but now without negotiations without us as a partner to do a one sided to impose it on israel and they feel the strong need to give a response as an israeli i can say that has to do with domestic politics personally i don't necessarily adhere to that stop i think you've heard

a lot of criticism here in israel in linking it in such a way but that is also about politics was it was an election campaign rhetoric verbal popularity rhetoric or do think it will actually happened. well that's one of the questions that we ask ourselves for that to happen you're talking also about budget you're talking about infrastructure you're talking about construction those that an enormous debate in israel over the last year or two together with the debate in most of europe in the united states and many of the countries that have been in a recession about the whole housing issue construction the cost of living if you go right now as a government and say what we're investing in right now is in a place that the mainstream of israel doesn't necessarily think we should invest in here making an election campaign which may not go over well kevin and i think in that sense it is more rhetoric i'm not sure it will actually come to be and the elections in israel are in a little over two months and i think that will see

a change a little under two months we'll see a change after the elections when it comes to the you know the news. around the world that news went like a lead balloon i mean israel and the u.s. and now with him in a minority why don't you look at it where does this leave israel's claim to territories now so many nations overwhelmingly want to see palestine independent independent. i don't surprise you kevin by saying that israelis the majority of israelis including this government by the way have stated clearly that they'd like to see palestine independent both of us understand that there's a difference between saying palestine independent and doing it on your own with the united nations without israel as a partner as if saying that the impediment is just the state that's here let's do this hand in hand let's look forward and see how it. is how that's not it comes. a well one that hasn't worked over the years i'm one of the ones i'm

a mother whenever people come to me with arguments i say why don't we look at both sides and in this case i want to look at both sides the decision that was made on thursday from my point of view as an israeli was anti israel not just pro palestinian i want to see something which is a win win situation one that's both pro palestinian that goes towards an independent state not just in rhetoric and then not just in declarations but in actuality and to do so those same palestinians kevin how to come back to the negotiation table for the last four years they have refused to do so they've refused time and again and we're all aware of that it was one of the main reasons that the forty states the did abstain from the vote on thursday did so because of that rejection of israel it isn't just about being pro palestine it's also about accepting israel here and that's where we need to go with you a pragmatic had to live with this do you think it's ever going to happen sometimes . i want to hope that people will get beyond their initial

reaction to the way they look at israel you know in israel we have open free elections as you have in many places around the world we have a very vibrant polity politics lots of different opinions in israel we look at things from the security point of view for a variety of reasons you can critique us about that i understand but that's what we're looking at i think that this government has stated clearly that they're willing to negotiate that they're willing to come to a compromise that they want to see a two state solution it isn't the same as imposing it from the outside sit down at a table agree to meet i honestly believe at this stage that mahmoud abbas is not willing to make this government i want to hope that perhaps somebody else in the palestine authority now calling itself palestine will agree to come meet this government and to talk about it if they don't sit down kevin we're never going to know but of course israel maybe not helping the matter could be said on top of the

and i was with the settlements israel's also announced is not going to hold over a hundred million dollars of aid to the palestinians to pay back debts to israeli companies is that really an option when of course you've got the world's largest refugee populations on your doorstep. well that refugee population is something that needs to be taken care of in any case but i'm looking at these as part of the last four years and before we talked about the last twenty one years and then you get to the sixty five years and everybody wants to know why isn't over yet there's a variety of reasons we need to feel security the palestinians deserve a state most israelis say that openly when i say most i'm talking about seventy percent of israelis overwhelmingly want to see palestine as an independent state also not just the rest of the world both sides need to be addressed and it isn't necessarily just about the settlements have been just a few years ago with the settlement issue israel said ok we're going to freeze them and we froze them and the palestinians refused to come to the table and we froze

them again and the palestinians refused to come to the table and for the last three years they've been focused at the united nations and trying to impose a resolution rather than trying to negotiate one negotiations are not an imposition it's two sides who sit down together and it's going to be hard for both sides so on the one hand i want to rejoice i want that win win but that when win means that the other side that's palestine haven't openly state that they accept our right to be here our being here and not just being anti all of the things i've heard on r.t.l. so just from right now is that now it's all about anti israel anti law so we're continuing with the same idea started it on the night of may show you probably taking it further and anti and not a negotiation ok thank you ever so much better program we do appreciate your time miri eisin there from the into disciplinary center and again. egyptians is

supposed to decide on a new constitution in two weeks time but if this week was that it had to go by it will be easy there was widespread anger as the president granted him so sweeping new powers while supreme court judges couldn't rule on the just of micio. the draft charter of her supporters of mohamed morsy stop them getting into the chamber courts now suspended his work indefinitely in protest is artie's tom in cairo. unrest returns to the streets after the revolution that toppled hosni mubarak after the election that brought in mohamed morsi egypt is in turmoil once again these round the clock protests have been going on for over a week now it resembles early two thousand and eleven when hosni mubarak was removed from power but that was nearly two years ago shouldn't the revolution have ended by now the mood on top risk where became defiant again after last week's to creep by president morsi meaning his decisions would face no legal challenge we had

the revolution to get rid of a tyrant the dictator. in in order to that we made elections and rid of aleutian and their actions to choose someone to the present us and turned out that this guy is also a tyrant himself however morsi claims his new powers are only temporary he nor any of the b.b.q. two in the world who are close to you will tell you it is a temporary thing it is full emergency told us the seems the same thing sixty usable under president obama and we've stayed under emergency law for seventy years opponents say egypt's new constitution is too islamist and could set the country on the road to religious dictatorship but some sections of society are keen to show their support for morsi and their scorn for judges who would block the constitution and i'm here to support the president morsi from so patient might it be for his opposition for the constitutional court. or most of us knows that since it is the

morsi is that he got elected by the people when it was at the fight for his failure the rifts in society are undeniable and perhaps more even the north or a tarion ism is fair is that chaos will tear. apart any gains made by the revolution this is something new in egypt that's why it's it's more sitting in a way where you find that people are facing each other in the streets in the ministrations and facing that type of violence from islamic groups egypt's president its government its courts its very constitution are now matters of heated debate one of the few things most egyptians do seem to agree on after the long night of mubarak a new day is proving elusive tom botton party. journalist neil clark says egyptians are also frustrated that life's only been getting harder for them since mubarak was ousted and that the new leader isn't doing enough. i think morse's made

a big mistake he may have thought that basically people were anti mubarak and barak's gone and therefore he had a bit of leeway but no the underlying problems that corruption that the policies of mubarak you know that people want to cling great with these policies they wanted radical change not cosmetic change not merely a change of leader tot mom with the same economic policies the same social policies etc they wanted a real radical change they're not getting that and so it's really at a at a crucial stage now where he's got to listen to the people of egypt has heard this before that had a lot of temporary howlers what they got down the years where governments have said to do this on a temporary basis of these ended up lasting a very long time to mubarak once and so i think there is that sort of fear among egyptians that what they're getting is a new pharaoh as i said they want they wanted more democracy back in twenty eleven but they also wanted fundamental economic changes which haven't come about because there are widespread concerns of the public about what morsi has done the last few days that's not what the people in hundreds of thousands took to the streets when

twenty eleven was to have a new dictator but the underlying cause i think are economic factors and the fact is people voted for morsi because they thought he'd bring changes it but the economy has got worse one in four young egyptians are out of work poverty is on the right so i think there is this one issue this constitutional crisis at the moment but beyond that there are deep issues in egypt you have to be addressed. this is our to you to come election turnout stumbled in kuwait which. is paid off in a few minutes we examine why changing the rules break the votes of people just. i never thought i could earn a living this way. natale issue of all is a norm or should test small arms of the sort i was to machine building ploy and not

are the source to count of all the weapons she's fired over the past twelve years. i got so used to it sometimes my friends ask me to join them at the rifle range and i say no way i'm so tired of shooting. the planet's history goes from making firearms doing world war two to ballistic missiles from nuclear submarines during the cold war the bulk of the soviet industry was moved here in the 1940's to flee the advancing germans so if you were also became the heart of soviet military production closed off to foreigners for half a century it thrived on the lesser moods of the soviet military when the u.s.s.r. collapsed but life here was shaken to the core but some adapted to better than others. this is the truck factory russia's number one truck made for girls a look at how well the workplace is organized everything's gone to make sure the workers don't waste time waiting there was so production is booming the factory has

largely managed to get on to civil rails these giants are sold around the globe hit a base a brand new be no way to be delivered to acquire seventy trucks like this once roll up the bronx conveyor belt every day look at about this things that absolutely huge . well i'm no formula one pilot but hopefully if i can get up that. far to try. to get one of these to travel to whatever it was with a cost of about forty thousand dollars i should start saving money.

promising some new shock revelations to rival the hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic cables published by wiki leaks two years ago an interview with r t the editor of the whistle blowing web site also claims the us is becoming a totalitarian state with the help of social media. the problem is that all the time everyone nearly everything they do on the internet is permanently recorded every web search to know what you were thinking one year two days three months ago you don't know but google knows it remembers the national security agency intercepts the request if it flowed over us border it knows will be. a national security agency whistleblower who was the research head of the national security agency's signals intelligence division describes this as turning key totalitarianism that all the infrastructure has been built for absolute totalitarianism it's just a matter of turning the key and actually the case has already been turned

a little bit and it is now affecting people who are targeted for us drone strikes organizations like wiki leaks. national security reporters who are having their sources investigated is already partly turned and you know the question is would we would go all the way. and it did you can watch the full interview with our website r.t. dot com of course he was something private bradley manning the man charged with handing over classified u.s. documents to wiki leaks spoke out for the first time in over two years saying he considered suicide while in detention during is pretrial hearing the twenty four year old said his detention conditions triggered the anxiety attacks that made him want to hang himself manning's been locked up now for more than nine hundred days the longest pretrial detention of a u.s. soldier since the vietnam war chase mother lawyer and author of

a book called manning says the imprisoned private provokes a mixed reaction from the military. oh the kid in the military and intelligence and law enforcement is quite divided about this i am not going to lie most people in the military have a very strict by the book attitude towards many of the rules not all the rules but many and would like to see that you convicted but i have talked with infantry one of whom who is caught on camera at that infamous collateral murder how a cup your video mrs bradley manning is hero who sees the leaks of the iraq war logs including i don't look up your video as an unqualified good because now americans can finally see how that war is actually going in ditto for the afghan war logs there are also people in the f.b.i. who think such a thing is weak in weeks is very good for national security including the former director of the minneapolis office of the f.b.i.

fully roundly who is the time magazine person of the year two thousand and two and i have a long interview in my book with the former top cia analyst ray mcgovern who also sees that sir public knowledge of this benefit to the public debate about our wars should be in measurable good so there is disagreement that the military and intelligence communities about this. think kuwait pro government can that is when the lion's share of seats in parliament after saturday's election but the islamist led opposition which boycotted the vote playing the turnout was as low as twenty six percent dismissing the lawmaking body that is illegitimate the opposition's vowed protests until the u.s. backed want to keep dissolve parliament. reports from kuwait. well voting in kuwait's highly controversial elections may be over but the battle over the country's political future has only just begun lots of new faces in the newly elected parliament which is deemed to be far more government friendly than the previous assembly but that is because the opposition didn't front any candidates in

a boycott of the vote that the protest was deemed to be a success with official estimates of placing voter turnout at roughly thirty nine percent in stark contrast to the sixty percent voter turnout that we've seen in the last three elections in this country the opposition claims the turnout was in fact much lower and it's obvious the new body is illegitimate in fact they told the new assembly on constitutional and according to the popular committee of four boycotting the election votes the new body doesn't represent the majority of the kuwaiti people and has lost popular and little legitimacy the question is of course whether the opposition is now going to take its battle to the streets and whether the monarchy will respond with a heavy hand now what happens here in kuwait has implications far beyond the country's borders as an opec member any sort of on a rest is bound to have an effect on world oil prices the country also serves as a hub for the pentagon's ground forces with thousands of american combat troops stationed here as a military counterweight to iran now the gulf monarchies as

a whole have been struggling to stave off the effects of the arab spring with varying degrees of success kuwait has largely seen as the most tolerant of all the trees but the worry here is that the trend could be reversed over the past few months the country has seen increasingly violent escalating protests between the opposition and security forces with the latter using tear gas stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse crowds political parties are banned as are political gatherings of more than twenty people and activists are claiming of a clampdown against dissent here in this country authorities did allow thousands of opposition demonstrators to gather in a largely peaceful rally on. friday or force the coming weeks are bound to test the limits of the government's tolerance as well as the self control of the opposition what happens here in kuwait could very well write the next chapter of the arab spring to see catherine up r.t. the late so my listeners secure aids regime will have staying power as long as it

enjoys the support that comes with being a key u.s. ally but the most important element in all of this is whether or not the opposition is able to stand up against this family the ruling class the ruling class in kuwait and most importantly standing against u.s. imperialism kuwait in and of itself is not terribly important but when seen in the context of the g.c.c. and seen as one of the most reliable u.s. allies particularly juxtaposed against what is happening in bahrain then we understand that the united states and the western powers cannot allow the saw family to fall you have to see that kuwait is a launching point in a possible war against iran so all of these taken together really shows that the united states has both political geo political and then of course social reasons why they want to maintain the status quo. german lawmakers overwhelmingly back giving greece its next pay out in the week vital to keeping the country from sliding into bankruptcy now means than athens can pay wages bills this month he

approved package involves among other things slashing interest rates and releasing more cash chancellor angela merkel acknowledged the weariness of germans in further aiding greece but insisted the measures help to bring stability to the euro zone investment advisor patrick says germans are the only ones for the state of the greek government. i think there are a considerable number of people who would like to cut greece loose at this juncture a because it's probably the most unique in thing to do but second of all because ultimately the greek government has simply field to do anything that it has really been supposed to do in terms of privatization and so on and many times it's enacted legislation but feel to follow through the taxation system in greece is broken all of these sorts of horrible things lead us to the fact that greece is governed in a third world fashion at the moment not in a first world fashion and that ultimately is causing a huge amount of frustration with a great many e.u. finance ministers some of them because they've got lots of money such as say

germany and poland and so on some of them because they've actually taken their medicine the poor irish twenty thousand people on the streets of dublin at the weekend complaining about your stereotype medicine they've had to dig annoyed and they're hearing that the greeks are going to get all manner of concessions in order to be allowed to get through the next hurdle and get there next be a light that's not fair it's very unreasonable of a lot of people and that's leading a huge number of politicians to be increasingly fed up with the whole situation. russian gas could soon be flowing directly to the united kingdom energy giant b.p. and gazprom are talking business is britain seeks to bolster its energy security the north stream pipeline could be extended to the u.k. by twenty sixteen the deal said to be signed in the middle of next year right now the pipeline runs from russia to germany on the baltic sea it would need to be extended six hundred miles to reach britain the project appeals though to the u.k. government because it offers diversifying gas supplies that are currently mostly coming from the middle east. much more news ahead including the tale of

a prime minister the press and the public baying for blood as an inquiry says britain's free media needs to be rated with regulation. versus social workers.